The Port of Mombasa is facing increased competition from other ports in the East Africa region even as stakeholders prepare for the return of port services to Mombasa in compliance with President William Ruto’s directive.
South Sudan has announced the acquisition of three acres of land for the contraction of facilities to handle imports at the Port of Djibouti as it looks to reduce its dependence on the Port of Mombasa.
On the other hand, Dar Es Salaam is increasingly offering competition to Mombasa, with an estimated 17.04 million tonnes of cargo handled compared to 34.54 million tonnes by Mombasa.
Return of Port Services
The Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA) management has begun in-house reorganisation by deploying more workers in affected departments to ensure efficiency.
“There has been no more Container Nomination Team meetings, and all Mombasa container clearance requests are being allowed. .. We are fully committed to totally implement the presidential directive as we wait for further guidelines,” said communication from Senior Operations Officer Patrick Makau to departmental heads.
Kenya International Forwarding and Warehousing Association Chairman Roy Mwanthi complained that KPA has not issued any communication to shipping lines to inform importers to use Mombasa as their clearing point.
Additionally, Kenya Transport Association Chairman Newton Wang’oo said the agency will write officially to the government since no truck has been allowed to pick up cargo from the port.
“We haven’t seen any changes yet and we shall be seeking audience with the KPA management on Monday for updates,” Newton Wang’oo as quoted by Nation.
The return of the port operations that were transferred to Nairobi and Naivasha is expected to revive the coastal city’s economy.
